To Three-Word-Wednesday (Today’s words are Bribery, clobber, skeptical).

“No, no, not like that.” Anna leaned forward to grab Joachim’s shoulders. “No. You don’t want to clobber them over the head with it.”

Joachim twitched at the grab. “What am I supposed to do, sing them a love song? It’s bribery, not the prom.”

“It’s both of those things, exactly. Thank you, Aaron. I’ll take over.” Anna shooed the older man away with a flap of her hand. “This is how we do this.” She stepped into Aaron’s place. “Greetings, Mr. Todleron. How can I help you tonight?”

The boy twisted his face up. “Anna, I don’t think this is going to work.”

“No, no, who is this Anna? I am Karl Brust, and I run the store here. How can I help you this evening, Mr. Todleron?”

“Really?” The kid had gone beyond skeptical and into flat-out doubtful, but he still held out his hand and squeezed Anna’s. He got just the right amount of tension – not too tight, not too loose. If only he could do the rest of the routine that easily. “Mr. Brust, so nice to finally meet you.” He dropped into character fine. He’d always had that part down pat. “I was wondering if I could impose on you, just a little bit…”

“It’s a lovely night, wouldn’t you say? More small talk, Mr. Todleron. Remember that this is a date, not a snatch-and-grab. Caress him with your words.”

“Your eyes are beautiful, Mr. Brust.” Joachim smirked. “And the moon, too, is quite pretty.” His voice dropped in pitch, and he stepped up against Anna as he pulled her in. “But your lips are prettier still.”

And his eyes, Anna noted, were quite pretty. Why had she never…

“I’d say you’ve gone all the way out the other side to ‘clobber’ again.” Aaron’s dry voice broke the mood. “What was the line? This is bribery, kid, not your prom.”

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